


A Chat in the Night

by Sweetss80



Series: A winter's tale [2]
Category: SS-GB (TV)
Genre: Douggie is so wise, Dreams and Nightmares, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Oskar Huth as stepfather
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 03:06:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13204503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetss80/pseuds/Sweetss80
Summary: Douggie has a nightmare and Huth tries to comfort him but he is also confronted with himself. Douglas Archer has a minor role in this story.





	A Chat in the Night

The glass of water fell with a soft bang on the floor. Fortunately there was carpet on the floor so the result was only water damage.

" _Verdammt noch mal_!" Huth grumbled softly in German. Why do I have to make a water ballet again?

He looked at his partner who slept like a rose. Archer had become more himself the last few days, as if a burden had fallen away from him. Huth could guess what the reason was, but he didn’t mention the subject. If Douglas is ready to talk, I will hear it, he thought.

Huth went looking for a towel to clean the floor. When he had delivered the dirty towel in the laundry basket and walked back, he heard a suspicious sound from Douggie's bedroom.

Douggie's bedroom wasn’t, as usual, fully closed. The boy apparently still felt uneasy when the bedroom door was completely closed. A night light gave the bedroom a friendly, nightly glow.

Carefully, Huth opened the bedroom door. He saw Douggie sitting straight in bed, with a frightened, anxious face. Douggie cried silently. The tears ran down his cheeks.

"Douggie! Everything okay? " Huth asked worriedly, but also a bit on his guard. Huth was aware that he wasn’t the father, but Archer. And for Douggie, Archer was, logically, in first place.

"Oskar, sorry. I didn’t want to wake you up," Douggie sobbed.

Douggie always named Huth by his first name, Oskar. He had no problems with that. On the contrary: he would find it strange if Douggie suddenly named him ‘daddy’.

"You didn’t wake me up. I only heard a suspicious sound and came to take a look. Should I call your father? "asked Huth. 

"Please don’t, because he will worry again. May I talk to you? " Douggie asked, a bit panicky. 

Huth knelt down by the bed. "Of course, no need to ask! What is going on? Bad dream? Come here." 

Huth took a handkerchief and carefully began cleaning the boy's tear-stained face. "So, that might be a little easier. Tell me, Douggie."

Douggie, now somewhat calmer, began to talk about his nightmare. "It was really terrible. I was walking with dad in London and suddenly, I do not remember where, he was gone. We walked hand in hand through the city. It was busy, noisy and it looked gray of the people. And suddenly dad was gone. I no longer felt him in my hand. I started to cry out of panic, but I couldn’t make any noise. And all those people who stared at you and didn’t help you in any way. Horrible!"

Douggie began to cry again.

Huth let him alone. He might have little experience with children, instinctively he felt that Douggie just needed a listening ear at the moment, without judgement. 

He handed Douggie the handkerchief. Douggie took it and wiped his face again.

"Should I get a glass of water for you?" Huth asked.

Douggie nodded.

Huth came back with a glass of water and put it down on the bedside table. Douggie took a few sips. After a while he said: "I know it was only a dream, but why can they feel so anxious and real?"

Huth thought about this. Then he said: "Dreams actually represent your deepest feelings. Perhaps you are still deeply afraid that your father will suddenly be gone. Or that the people you love suddenly disappeared. But you know as well that your father would never, _never_ leave you. When I met him, I knew immediately that you are always in first place in his life. Remember that, Douggie!”

Douggie nodded with relief. "I know that. But it does give a good feeling. " And then: "Have you ever had nightmares?"

If Huth were to lie now, Douggie would know right away. After all, children are perfectly fine if people aren’t honest with them. He said: "I certainly had nightmares when I was younger. But I didn’t pay much attention to it. It was a waste of time. I was busy with my ... career."

"Why didn’t you do anything?" Douggie asked in all his honesty.

"I ....," hesitated Huth. He didn’t know how to proceed. "Do you remember at Christmas that I said something about my own father?" Douggie said: "Yes, only I didn’t understand it." 

Huth had to smile for that answer. "Of course not, you're too young for that. But as you have a good relationship with your father, I had such a bad one with my own father. It was never good enough. No matter how much I did my best, there was hardly a smile or a compliment. It made me angry and frustrated. When I was older and left home, I decided to break the contact with my father. I haven’t seen him for years then.” 

Douggie listened attentively. 

Huth continued: "Anyway, it were certainly not pleasant dreams. All that anger, rejection and frustration came up again and it got me upset. I didn’t want to think about it, because it hurt so badly. " 

The nightmares disappeared over the years and certainly from the moment that Archer came into his life. But still this feeling of frustration came to the surface if Huth had a bad day. Archer, however, managed to get through it and reassured him in his own way. 

"And now? No more nightmares?" Douggie asked. 

"No more nightmares and you can guess who is responsible for that." 

The answer reassured Douggie. He started yawning now.

"Go back to sleep. And if there is anything, you just call, "said Huth. He gave the boy a playful squeeze in his nose. Douggie giggled and crawled back under the covers. "Sleep well, Oskar. And thank you for listening. "

"No, I should thank _you_ for listening." Huth smiled. “Sleep well, Douggie.”

 

=======

 

Huth quietly crept under the covers again. He felt Archer's arm sliding around his waist. "Where were you suddenly? "Archer asked sleepily. 

"Glass knocked over, first had to clean up the mess. And Douggie had a nightmare."

Archer looked up in alarm. "Do not worry," Huth said quickly. "He has fallen asleep again." 

Archer let out a sigh of relief and suddenly laughed. "Oskar as stepfather, who would have ever thought?"

"I certainly don’t. I must admit you honestly ... I started to like it." Huth grinned. "Your son is a smart boy, do you know that?" 

"I always knew, it's in the family," Archer teased. Huth poked him in his side.

Archer continued softly: "You as a stepfather of Douggie….I like this….very much." He snuggled close to Huth, his head half resting on Huth's shoulder and neck, and fell asleep. 

“I like this too,“ whispered Huth when he felt Acher’s warm body against him.

"Dream well, Douglas." he finally said.

 


End file.
